What went wrong for the Lady Vols in their Sweet 16 loss to Virginia Tech

CALEB JARREAU Staff Writer

No. 4 seed Tennessee had a rematch with No. 1 Virginia Tech in the Sweet 16. A chance at redemption on Saturday night, the Lady Vols lost by just three points in the first contest in December.

Playing without Rickea Jackson and a couple of Tennessee’s posts in the first matchup, it seemed that the Lady Vols were poised to get the upset in the NCAA Tournament. But, the Hokies took the rematch 73-64 and ended Tennessee’s season.

So, what went wrong for the Lady Vols?

Virginia Tech’s two X-factors, Elizabeth Kitley and Georgia Amoore, had to be shut down if the Lady Vols wanted to win.

Kitley went for 12 points and eight rebounds, modest numbers for the Player of the Year candidate that averages 18 and 10.7. She also spent the last 7:30 minutes of the first half on the bench in foul trouble.

Georgia Amoore, on the other hand, went off and proved the difference in the game.

“She’s such a high-volume shooter,” Tennessee head coach Kellie Harper said. “You can’t keep the ball out of her hands. We switched out on some screens, we went over some screens, unfortunately, we went under some screens, and therefore, she hit a few shots there.”

Compounded by Amoore’s offensive performance, was the lack of offense by the Lady Vols. Tennessee dug itself into a hole early.

“I feel like we were playing into how they wanted us to play,” guard Jordan Horston said. “Took 12 threes before halftime and that’s not us. We weren’t as aggressive as we should have been.”

Virginia Tech started the game on a 9-0 run while Tennessee missed its first five shots.

“It hurts because we really wanted it,” Horston said. “I felt like we gave everything we got, everything we had. Just our slow start in the beginning kind of hurt us.”

Tennessee settled for jumpers and threes to start the game. Shooting 30% from the field and 2-for-12 from three-point land, the strategy was not working for Tennessee.

“They did a great job sticking with their game plan,” Harper said. “And then their first half defense, I thought was really — and our offense was really the difference in the game.”

Despite their first-half woes, Tennessee came out in a full-court press in the second half that disrupted the Hokies’ offense.

“We’re down, so we had to speed the game up a little bit, try to turn them over, get some opportunities,” Harper said.

The press did its job, turning Virginia Tech over 12 times in the second half compared to just six in the first half. The press allowed Tennessee to get out in transition and cut Virginia

Tech’s 18-point lead to one with just over six minutes left in the game.

It seemed that the Lady Vols had another miraculous comeback completed, like the SEC semifinal game against LSU. But, they couldn’t capitalize.

Tennessee gave up an and-one bucket, missed a three, turned it over twice and fouled Virginia Tech on a three-point attempt. Just like that, the Hokies had an eight-point run and were in control of the game again.

“I know we turned the ball over,” Harper said. “And those opportunities, well, you got to capitalize. And we missed some free throws.”

The Lady Vols wouldn’t get closer than seven points for the rest of the Sweet 16 contest. The loss ends a season filled with adversity for Tennessee.

It is only the third Elite Eight without both Tennessee and UConn.

“A lot of teams who went through what we went through at first probably would have folded,” Walker said of Tennessee’s season. “It would have been different. It wouldn’t have been a Sweet 16 team. But I think it’s just a testament to who that team is and how special it is.”